The Gourmet Gardener

Gooseberry Fool

One of the nations finest flavours - the mighty gooseberry.

Traditionally I would advocate a harvest of gooseberries to be slung straight into a crumble, but this time I thought I’d have a go at making a fool. If successful, this should open the door for all manner of fruit fools through the summer months.

A bit of research suggests that fools fall into two main categories - the proper way and the lazy way. ie - either made with craime fresh or whipped cream or properly made with home made custard, I’m not a huge fan of the culinary short-cut as they inevitably detract from the overall dish so I decided to go the old school proper way instead.

The best recipe I could find actually came from the Waitrose online website and it is replicated below…

As I type, I am at the final stages of the recipe waiting for my custard and fruit puree to cool cool in their individual bowls so I can mix them together and put into glasses in the fridge. Both component parts taste divine so I have high hopes for the finished dish.

Overall - the whole process including topping and tailing the berries probably took 25 mins or less. A half hour very well invested I;d say.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

800g cooking gooseberries, topped, tailed and washed
6 tbsp Waitrose Elderflower Cordial
2 tbsp caster sugar
Fresh mint, to decorate

For the custard
1 tbsp caster sugar
284ml pot double cream
1 vanilla pod
3 egg yolks
1 tsp cornflour

Method

1. Place the gooseberries in a pan with the elderflower cordial and sugar. Simmer for about 10 minutes until the gooseberries are thoroughly softened. Purée through a sieve (or in a blender if you want to include the crunchy pips) and allow to cool. Make the custard by gently heating the cream and vanilla pod in a saucepan to just under boiling point.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour to a smooth paste.
3. Remove the vanilla pod from the hot cream then reserve to use again. (G-G EDIT - I SPLIT HALF A POD, SCRAPED OUT THE SEEDS AND PUT THEM IN THE MIX AS I LIKE MY CUSTARD HEAVY ON THE VANILLA) Pour the cream over the paste, whisking all the time. Return the mixture to the pan and cook over a gentle heat, whisking constantly with a balloon whisk. Once the custard has thickened, pour into a bowl to cool.
4. Mix the cooled custard and puréed fruit together and spoon into serving dishes or glasses. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve. Decorate with sprigs of mint.

The Best Italian Cookbook

I’m a sucker for buying cookbooks. Whether a £50 fancy bound thing from the internet or a scruffy old £1.50 charity shop book, I’ve got them all.

My favourite kind of cooking is by far Italian so naturally they represent the larger proportion of books on the shelf.

I recommend three  -

• Giorgio Locatelli ‘Made in Italy’ - a beautifully bound, hardbacked, 600+ masterpiece. It features many stunningly presented, authentic recipes amongst lots of essays on Italian culture and cooking in general. A book to drag out whn you have the afternoon completely free and feel the urge to create something magnificent.
• ‘The Silver Spoon’ is also known as the bible of authentic Italian cooking and it is easy to see why. At over 1200 pages with minimal photography this really is a workhorse of a book. Name any ingerdient you could possibly anticipate finding and The Silver Spoon will offer you different ways of cooking it. What? You have a pile of calves brains and no idea what to do with them - they offer nine proven ways for you to turn them into classic Italian food. Topically and seasonally they offer 14 different courgette dishes! Simple, to the point, basic ingredients.
• Marcella Hazan ‘The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking’. For me the best Italian cookbook around with 722 pages (and no pictures). Marcella is your authentic Italian granny (now living in the US I believe). She’s not a celebrity chef, she’s the real deal. Her recipes offer the perfect mix of authentic, impressive Italian style with an easy to follow writing style. It mixes up technically challenging dishes with the super quick ‘bung it all together’. It;s a basic Italian cooking manual for cooks at every level - beginners to the highly accomplished. What I also love about the book is the commentary and the thought that goes in. Her bolognese (the best bolognese recipe bar none) spans three pages and she explains each and every process along with alternatives etc. She is also passionate about the ‘real’ way of cooking. No short cuts. Bolognese HAS to cook for minimum 3hrs. Pizza dough MUST be kneaded by hand and not a machine. Passion goes into every page. I love it and it is my ‘go-to’ book for practically every mealtime now. Not easily available but you can order it from your local bookstore.